(Ann Arbor, MI) – Concordia Men's Lacrosse has been hard at work preparing to begin the 2024 season. The Cardinals enter the year ranked #5 in the preseason edition of the NAIA poll. CUAA is coming off a 15-3 season, winning their first-ever WHAC regular season title and making the first NAIA Invitational appearance in program history. Head coach Ty McGuire enters his 6th season at the helm, returning 30 players while adding 10 newcomers.
2023 Season Review
Concordia finished 15-3 last year with a perfect 8-0 WHAC record. The Cardinals racked up a 14-game winning streak throughout the season, downing four top-10 teams including then-#2 Indiana Tech.
CUAA received the #1 seed in the WHAC Tournament, hosting a semifinal where they defeated Aquinas 13-5. The Cardinals hosted the conference championship game against Indiana Tech but fell 15-7 in an upset.
Concordia earned an at-large bid to the NAIA National Invitational as the #6 seed. The Cardinals battled hard but fell 14-8 to #3 seed Cumberlands.
2024 Schedule Outlook
The Cardinals will begin the season with a rematch at #4 Cumberlands on February 14 at 6:00 pm. The team's home opener will come on February 21 against Alma at 1:00 pm.
March 4-7 features a key road trip with several marquee games. Concordia will face defending champion #1 Keiser, Saint Mary, and #3 Webber International. The Cardinals return home to face Midland on March 13 and begin WHAC conference play by hosting #2 Indiana Tech on March 23. The team will travel to #RV Lawrence Tech and rival #9 Siena Heights to close the month.
April starts with a road contest at #RV Aquinas. Concordia will then come back home to host #7 Madonna and Lourdes. After traveling to UM-Dearborn, the Cardinals round out the regular season with a home contest against Taylor.
Preseason Polls
Concordia earned the #5 seed in the preseason edition of the NAIA Coaches Poll. The WHAC is well-represented with Indiana Tech #2, Madonna #7, and Siena Heights #9. Aquinas and Lawrence Tech are also receiving votes.
In the WHAC Preseason Poll, coaches picked the Cardinals to finish in second place with 2 first-place votes. Indiana Tech was predicted to come in first, receiving 6 first-place votes. Aquinas earned the only other first-place vote while being predicted to finish 4th.
Concordia Personnel
Seniors: Evan Stuart had a team-high 39 goals last year along with 7 assists. Hunter McCarty recorded 21 goals and 16 assists. Noah Sorenson comes back after notching 11 goals and 8 assists. Sam Saje led the team with 165 ground balls and went 254-351 on faceoffs while adding 5 goals and 2 assists. Goalie Sam Bowling made 173 saves with an 8.46 GAA. Matthew Mahoney recorded a goal and an assist. Jeff Harrison made 25 ground ball pickups and 20 caused turnovers. Luke Hovarter had 12 ground balls.
Shane Derwa had a ground ball and 2 caused turnovers. Keshawn Simmons adds veteran leadership and depth on defense.
Juniors: Travis Wright scored 27 goals with 22 assists. Andrew Simmons notched 23 goals and 16 assists. Marcus Villagomez had 3 goals and an assist. Ben Tadych chipped in 3 goals and 21 ground balls. Aldo Mejia-Hans notched 2 goals with an assist. Nick Bradford and a goal and assist along with 28 ground balls. Cameron Dixon had 24 ground balls with 13 caused turnovers. Richard Johnson had 8 ground balls. Sean Stone picked up 2 ground balls. Patrick Broderick had a ground ball and caused a turnover.
Sophomores: Spencer Guppy scored 28 goals in his first year and added 10 assists. Cooper Regimbal notched 21 goals along with 7 assists. Ross Preston recorded 16 goals and 25 assists. Cross Papadelis had 11 goals with 3 assists. Ryan Davis scored 8 goals to go with 2 assists. Jack Foster notched 5 goals with an assist. Ethan Wagner went 28-55 on faceoffs with 15 ground balls. Michael Hart notched 11 ground balls. Gavin Scally had 9 ground balls. William Reed added 2 ground balls.
Newcomers: The Cardinals have added 10 newcomers: graduate transfer Ivan Progar, sophomore transfer Zachary Dixon, and freshmen Conor Kinsey, Conor Pryzybylo, Dane Kieninger, Edison Jarvi, Gabriel Moline, Jackson Brookes, Josh Dues, and Luke Beilhartz.
Head coach Ty McGuire is joined by assistant coaches Kyle Topper and Seth Shiller. The volunteer assistants are Carl Baker and Arda Cetinel.
2023 Team Stats
